Lesung: Die Zivilisation, Mutter! von Driss Chraibi

The tender and tongue-in-cheek portrayal of this Moroccan mother's journey leads from a pre-industrial world into the turbulence of this century. She was married off at the age of thirteen and since then, despite her sparkling vitality, she has led an enclosed existence behind the walls of her house. Her magical thinking takes hold of the new things that enter her circle of life: She sees magic at work on the radio, engages in battles against irons, stoves, telephones and other blessings of civilization. And then the big break: After twenty years, she takes to the streets again for the first time. Timidly at first, then with increasing self-confidence, she conquered the hitherto unknown world, the market, nature and politics. Without wanting to, she becomes a symbolic figure for an entire movement.

Read in German and Arabic by Melanie Stahlkopf and Mohamed Nabil. In the Salon of the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek.

MohamedNabil is a German-Moroccan author, filmmaker and curator based in Berlin. His documentary films deal with the situation of women in difficult situations. He organizes intercultural events with a focus on the relationship and dialogue between Orient and Occident.

Melanie Stahlkopf is a singer, actress, lecturer and speaker.

Author Driss Chraibi was born in 1926 in Al Jadida in Morocco, went to Paris to study after leaving school and lived in France until his death in 2007. He worked in various professions and traveled extensively.